Reality check: Upen in dubbing row

He insists his voice hasn't been dubbed, but the directors have a different story.

Upen is baffled by the whispers that his voice was dubbed for 36 China Town.

"This is the first time I am hearing this. My Hindi isn't superbly fluent, but my character in 36 China Town could get away with an accent. I play a Bangkok-based Casanova, so the accent suited him. It adds a comic effect to the character. That's why my directors insisted that I dub my own lines, although I told them to go ahead and get my lines dubbed," he says.

"If you know my voice, you'd recognise it in the film. Mukta Arts and my directors Abbas-Mustan will vouch for this," he adds.

Filmmaker Subhash Ghai, however, reiterates that Upen's voice has indeed been dubbed!

Added Abbas: "The fact is Upen did dub all his lines himself. And he worked really hard on it. But when we heard his voice during the final editing, we realised his British accent was distracting from his performance."

Upen is baffled by the whispers that his voice was dubbed for 36 China Town. The actor insists that his lines were not dubbed, which sadly is not the case.

"We, therefore, decided to re-do Upen's entire voice by a dubbing artiste named Viraj Jadhav. We haven't told Upen about it. We didn't want to break his heart when he's all excited about his first film. Many artistes don't do their own lines at the start. Nothing surprising about it," he said.

However, Upen has a lot to look forward to. He is a part of Abbas-Mastan's all hunk tale withSanjay Dutt.

"Sanjay and I will play the lead - there will be no girls. We are starting (shooting) in December. Just us two guys. But no, it is not Brokeback Mountain,"discloses Upen.

But there are plenty of girls in his first release - 36 China Town.

"I did not have a particular co-star. But since I play a Casanova, I got lots of girls, including guest appearances by four big names. Audiences will be shocked to know who these ladies are," Upen says.

"I know all eyes are on me. I didn't think that would be so, not when I was working with some of the biggest names in show business like Kareena Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Shahid Kapur, Paresh Rawal and Johnny Lever.

"I thought people would be more interested in them. I thought they'd come to see them and I'd hold my own somehow. I never expected such a huge hype," said Upen.

"Himesh Reshammiya's song for me is rocking. The expectations are scary, though I can't say I'm not enjoying them. They say models can't dance, but the promos prove I can dance. Let's hope I can act as well. I am okay as an actor. I'll get better in my second film."

That's Suneel Darshan's film

"That's right. Suneel has kindly taken me under his wings. He had promised me a film and he has kept his promise. In June he launches a film with Bobby Deol and me. But it isn't a friendship film. It will be a stylish slick film that will take Suneel away from the style he is known for. He is trying something new and I am very excited to be part of it."

Then there's Vipul Shah's new film

"His (Vipul's) film with Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif and me starts on July 15. I have a parallel lead. They are looking for a British co-star for me. And the great Himesh Reshammiya is doing my tracks again."

What about the rumours of a red-hot social life?

"It's all smoke without fire... But, yes, I am a young guy and I have a love life. I admit for the first time that I'm seeing someone. She is not really part of the industry as yet. Like my career, my relationship is just blossoming."